A.S.T. Perth (Scone) 1966
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Course 32 (Jan 1966 - May 1967)
While Hoddy waits to see if dont overfil has a photo of the Chief Engineer's 1966 residence as it is today, here's the official photo of Course 32. As previously posted, the course-proper started on Thursday, January 6th, although the 17 non-Anglophone students had apparently started on December 13th. Manoir has claimed that his Course 33 would later set the record for the largest number of starting students at 21. Course 32, however, started with 22. 
Partly because the 17 foreign students sooner or later returned to other continents - while the 5 British students, including myself, went to short-haul bases in the UK - we lost touch. Fifty years on, most of the faces/names are little more than educated guesses. Regarding the photo, it seems reasonable to assume that the 4 Nepalese Army officers did not participate, for security reasons, leaving the 18 students seen below. In which case, the photo was taken by mid-April; before we lost the first of 5 students that had gone by mid-July.
Back row, L to R: J.Lau, 2 (?), Mike Cross, A.L.'Sandy' Morris, Chris Scott, Peter Leith-Smith, Charles Jordan, 8 (?), 9 (?).
Front row, L to R: 1 (?), B.M. Abdul-Hamid (?), W.K. Gui (?), S. Zulkifli (?), 5 (?), 6 (?), T. El-Hassan, A. de-Silva (?), 9 (?).
Partly because the 17 foreign students sooner or later returned to other continents - while the 5 British students, including myself, went to short-haul bases in the UK - we lost touch. Fifty years on, most of the faces/names are little more than educated guesses. Regarding the photo, it seems reasonable to assume that the 4 Nepalese Army officers did not participate, for security reasons, leaving the 18 students seen below. In which case, the photo was taken by mid-April; before we lost the first of 5 students that had gone by mid-July.
Back row, L to R: J.Lau, 2 (?), Mike Cross, A.L.'Sandy' Morris, Chris Scott, Peter Leith-Smith, Charles Jordan, 8 (?), 9 (?).
Front row, L to R: 1 (?), B.M. Abdul-Hamid (?), W.K. Gui (?), S. Zulkifli (?), 5 (?), 6 (?), T. El-Hassan, A. de-Silva (?), 9 (?).
Last edited by Chris Scott; 21st Jan 2023 at 16:59. Reason: 17Mar2016: Some names added. (2) Image source changed to photobucket. 21Jan2023: Image resourced.
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Two more pictures, one of G-AHUE and G-AHUV, both used by Strathtay Aero Club at Scone and one of my father, Eric Hodson (Chief Engineer), after he had flown G-AHUV. These picture are prior to 1966 but I think both Tigers were still at Scone during this period.
Thread Starter
Nice picture of your dad after flying the Tiger, Hoddy. When you say "prior to 1966", do you mean 1955-ish?
I think that at least one flyable Tiger was in a hangar in 1966, but I don't remember seeing one in the air.
Hi dont overfil,
Did any of the ATCOs listed in my previous post ring a bell?
I think that at least one flyable Tiger was in a hangar in 1966, but I don't remember seeing one in the air.
Hi dont overfil,
Did any of the ATCOs listed in my previous post ring a bell?
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I'm fairly recent at Scone (90's) but work there now. The only name I recall is Robin Drew but I have not seen him for some time. He had a long term Auster rebuild project in the hangar some years ago.
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AST, Scone
Chris,
The list of AST instructors and staff on your 26th January post doesn't mention Dave Blair, my instructor on singles. I wondered if, by chance, he was seconded from the R.A.F. This might explain why his name was not on the AST payroll and therefore not included in your source material.
Mr. Oldfield, Chief Ground Instructor, was nick-named 'Oddjob' on account of a physical likeness to the character of the same name in Goldfinger (the one who had a metal based bowler hat that he deployed every so often with lethal consequences...)
'Goldfinger' was one of several films on show in the Perth cinema during 1966/7. (Does anybody remember what it was called?).
The list of AST instructors and staff on your 26th January post doesn't mention Dave Blair, my instructor on singles. I wondered if, by chance, he was seconded from the R.A.F. This might explain why his name was not on the AST payroll and therefore not included in your source material.
Mr. Oldfield, Chief Ground Instructor, was nick-named 'Oddjob' on account of a physical likeness to the character of the same name in Goldfinger (the one who had a metal based bowler hat that he deployed every so often with lethal consequences...)
'Goldfinger' was one of several films on show in the Perth cinema during 1966/7. (Does anybody remember what it was called?).
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It is called Perth Playhouse now, and has been for a few years.
Edited to say I've come across some old photos of an AST visit there and the description mentions the Odeon.
ELS- English language school.
Edited to say I've come across some old photos of an AST visit there and the description mentions the Odeon.
ELS- English language school.
Last edited by dont overfil; 29th Feb 2016 at 09:54.
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Bob Thursby
I had lunch and a few ales with Bob Thursby today Bob is not in the best of health,but he still Has a wonderful sense of humour He sends his regards to all ex Perth inmates
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Cinemas in Perth, Derek Brittain, Bob Thursby.
Thanks Dont, I met a man a month ago who grew up in Perth. He remembers at least two cinemas, about right for a town of its size in the 1960s. 'Goldfinger' was released in 1964, some of us may seen it prior to coming to Perth. Distinctly remember seeing 'The Sound of Music' and 'The Trap' in 1966/67, might well have been in the Odeon.
Derek Brittain was on Course 33. CSman, thanks for update, pass on good wishes to Bob Thursby.
Derek Brittain was on Course 33. CSman, thanks for update, pass on good wishes to Bob Thursby.
Last edited by Manoir; 11th Mar 2016 at 06:09.
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DC-3 Loss of Prop
No it was not Bob, it was Figment [John Reed], John kept nearly all in BA amused with his cartoons,not so management, also in the Log from Balpa,happy days
Last edited by CSman; 11th Mar 2016 at 12:33. Reason: typo
Thread Starter
Sorry to hear that Bob Thursby is currently under the wx, CSman: send him my greetings and best wishes.
The nearest I got to losing a prop (as opposed to "losing" an engine) on a Dak was when, having done the routine pre-take-off check of the feathering systems at Gatwick, we gradually realised that the relay controlling the starb'd prop was firmly stuck in the closed (live) position. The prop therefore continued to cycle slowly between fully-fine and fully-feathered. Fortunately, we hadn't even reached the runway when the penny dropped. After we shut the engine down the blades continued to cycle until we turned off the battery master switch and awaited a tug...
The nearest I got to losing a prop (as opposed to "losing" an engine) on a Dak was when, having done the routine pre-take-off check of the feathering systems at Gatwick, we gradually realised that the relay controlling the starb'd prop was firmly stuck in the closed (live) position. The prop therefore continued to cycle slowly between fully-fine and fully-feathered. Fortunately, we hadn't even reached the runway when the penny dropped. After we shut the engine down the blades continued to cycle until we turned off the battery master switch and awaited a tug...
Thread Starter
January 1966
The weather was generally kind to us in January, so flying for Course 32 got off to a good start.
"Foxtrot-Oscar" (C150A) over the fence for touchdown on Rwy 23 or 27 - one of my contemporary mounts
G-ARSB (C150B) starting a westerly take-off run. The grass looks dry at the time, but note the mud patches on its belly
G-ATEG (C150E) showing the E-model interim combination of a rear window with an unswept fin.
"Foxtrot-Oscar" (C150A) over the fence for touchdown on Rwy 23 or 27 - one of my contemporary mounts
G-ARSB (C150B) starting a westerly take-off run. The grass looks dry at the time, but note the mud patches on its belly
G-ATEG (C150E) showing the E-model interim combination of a rear window with an unswept fin.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 16th Mar 2016 at 23:37. Reason: Image sources changed to photobucket.
Thread Starter
Accommodation was somewhat haphazard in early 1966, but would improve later in the year when a couple of new blocks were completed. They would boast en-suite washrooms for each student, but no such luxury was available for yours truly in the first half of the year. I had a room in a "Bothy", near the south-east perimeter of the airfield, that I shared with Nigel Flack (Course 31) and Peter Leith-Smith (32)
The "Bothy"
The Bothy was about a hundred yards from the messing facilities, which made for slow progress to breakfast when the snow came in February. The photo was probably taken in April or May, apparently looking north-east, and the short-wheelbase Land Rover that was routinely outside by then was Nigel's. It needed a lot of work, and he had the unnerving habit of carrying out some of this while driving. That led to one or two close shaves, earning him the soubriquet - coined by Peter, IIRC - of "Death Flack".
My room, at the front of the Bothy
If it was 8 o'clock, as the clock suggests, that would have been P.M.; in which case at 20:00 BST (1900Z) the sunlight streaming in the window at a low angle above the horizon suggests these Bothy photos were taken in late April.
The "Bothy"
The Bothy was about a hundred yards from the messing facilities, which made for slow progress to breakfast when the snow came in February. The photo was probably taken in April or May, apparently looking north-east, and the short-wheelbase Land Rover that was routinely outside by then was Nigel's. It needed a lot of work, and he had the unnerving habit of carrying out some of this while driving. That led to one or two close shaves, earning him the soubriquet - coined by Peter, IIRC - of "Death Flack".
My room, at the front of the Bothy
If it was 8 o'clock, as the clock suggests, that would have been P.M.; in which case at 20:00 BST (1900Z) the sunlight streaming in the window at a low angle above the horizon suggests these Bothy photos were taken in late April.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 1st Jan 2019 at 18:02. Reason: Reinstating the two images
Thread Starter
February 1966
The first snow of 1966 came early in February.
AST Cessna 310 D: either G-ARCH, G-ARCI or G-ARBC
Flying was mainly suspended for two or three weeks, IIRC: certainly for novices. That was irksome for me, the only BUA cadet on my course with no previous experience. With 6:25 on the C150, I was close to going solo - or so I hoped. The snow and a URI resulted in my being grounded for about four weeks in the end. After a long break at that stage in the game, you don't resume flying quite where you left off.
On the other hand, the enforced break gave us a chance to concentrate on ground school, not to mention socialising. Evening outings were often courtesy of Charles Jordan and Sandy Morris, who gave us lifts - sometimes to the Salutation pub in Perth. The main roads were cleared before the airfield's grass runways, so in daytime I was able to cycle downhill into the city for shopping. The uphill grind on return may have aggravated my feverish URI, it being my first winter outside the Tropics since the age of six.
AST Cessna 310 D: either G-ARCH, G-ARCI or G-ARBC
Flying was mainly suspended for two or three weeks, IIRC: certainly for novices. That was irksome for me, the only BUA cadet on my course with no previous experience. With 6:25 on the C150, I was close to going solo - or so I hoped. The snow and a URI resulted in my being grounded for about four weeks in the end. After a long break at that stage in the game, you don't resume flying quite where you left off.
On the other hand, the enforced break gave us a chance to concentrate on ground school, not to mention socialising. Evening outings were often courtesy of Charles Jordan and Sandy Morris, who gave us lifts - sometimes to the Salutation pub in Perth. The main roads were cleared before the airfield's grass runways, so in daytime I was able to cycle downhill into the city for shopping. The uphill grind on return may have aggravated my feverish URI, it being my first winter outside the Tropics since the age of six.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 11th Feb 2017 at 16:50. Reason: (1) Image source changed to photobucket. (2) G-ARCH added to caption.